Guide to Northern Ireland ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Country Information

Northern Ireland is one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom (together with England, Scotland and Wales). Northern Ireland, is of fairly recent origin, coming out of the partition of the island of Ireland in 1921. Northern Ireland was retained as part of the UK, and the rest of Ireland, became an independent state, and was known as the Irish Free State in 1922, and after 1949, the Republic of Ireland. The official language is English.[1]

Getting Started

Keep in mind these differences from the rest of Ireland:

Although originally Catholic, over time what now constitutes Northern Ireland became predominately a Protestant country.

The majority of records are based on English law since it became a part of the United Kingdom.

Many of the original records have been destroyed in the various conflicts that culminated in the 1921 "troubles", but copies of some records do exist